photo: Oliver Marmol via Zoom (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Attention across the baseball world was directed to the St. Louis Cardinals last October when the club hired bench coach Oliver Marmol as the new field manager, replacing Mike Shildt.
The former minor league player and later manager and coach was just 35 years of age, making him the youngest manager in team history and the youngest manager currently in Major League Baseball.
Just 11 months later, on Tuesday evening in Milwaukee, Marmol’s maiden Cardinals club clinched the 2022 National League Central Division title. Shortly afterward, a poster on The Cardinal Nation’s free forum posed this very interesting question:
“I wonder if Marmol just became the youngest manager to win a division title?”
Upon seeing this, I immediately accepted the challenge, dropping the work I should have been doing instead and heading down a rabbit hole that has led me to conclude that Marmol does seem to have claimed this honor – at 36 years and 87 days.
| Manager | Year/Team | Age yr/mos | Notes | 1st year | Mgr of Year |
| Oliver Marmol | 2022 STL | 36/2 | yes | TBD | |
| Sparky Anderson | 1970 CIN | 36/6 | HOF | yes | (prior to award) |
| Rocco Baldelli | 2019 MIN | 38/0 | yes | youngest | |
| Buck Showalter | 1994 NYY | 38/3* | *Aug strike | yes | |
| Tony La Russa | 1983 CWS | 38/11 | HOF | yes | |
| Eric Wedge | 2007 CLE | 39 | yes | ||
| Kevin Cash | 2020 TB | 42 | yes | ||
| Alex Cora | 2018 BOS | 43 | won WS | yes | |
| A.J. Hinch | 2017 HOU | 43 | won WS |
As it expanded, MLB first implemented divisions in 1969 and went from two to three divisions per league in 1995.
Prior to Marmol, the youngest division-winning manager I could identify* was 38 years old. In fact, it was exactly to the day as the 2019 Minnesota Twins clinched the American League Central on Rocco Baldelli’s 38th birthday. Baldelli went on to be named the AL Manager of the Year in his first season in the job and was the youngest ever to receive those honors.
At least two other 38-year-old managers’ clubs won their divisions. Buck Showalter led the 1994 Yankees to a first-place finish, but the August strike led to the cancelation of the post-season.
A very familiar name, Hall of Famer Tony La Russa, was also 38 years old when his 1983 Chicago White Sox finished in first place.
Boston’s Alex Cora was not in his 30’s in his rookie season but holds the distinction of his first-place club winning the World Series in his first year. Cora was 43 years old.
However, none of the other men highlighted completed the trifecta of winning the division, going on to take the World Championship and being selected as his league’s Manager of Year – in his first season managing while still in his 30’s.
Could Marmol be the first?
* Update
Cardinals Media Relations has confirmed that Marmol is the youngest manager to lead his team to a postseason since Divisional Play began in 1969. (This would apparently also cover Wild Cards.)
However, I overlooked the prior record-holder.
Former Cardinals minor league skipper and Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson took the 1970 Cincinnati Reds to the National League West Division title at 36 years, 207 days. In Sparky’s rookie season managing in the majors, the Reds lost in the World Series. (In 1970, the Manager of the Year Award had not yet been created.)
The above table has been updated to recognize Sparky.
For more information, I wrote the following article almost 12 years ago at Anderson’s passing.
Comments?
As my study was not scientific, I may have missed others. If you have corrections or just want to engage in conversation, please head over to The Cardinal Nation’s free forum and look for the related discussion thread, for the September 27 game.
While there, join in the daily Cardinals talk with other avid fans.
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